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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-HBP Characters:None Genres: Tragedy Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Sexual Situations, Violence Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 1174 Summary: Harry gets one night that gives him a glimpse into what life could be like with the Dursley's. But events turn for the worse and both Harry and the wizarding world are left wondering what it's consquences mean for the future of the world. Hitcount: Story Total: 501520; Chapter Total: 18129 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: No copyright infringement is intentded. I have the utmost respect for JK Rowling and the Potter Universe...so all the character's and places, etc.... are hers. The plot and storyline are mine |
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Thud... Charging...come on kid......clear..... Thud...thud... Again....charging... Thud...thud...t hud... Once more...you're not dying...not today...clear! Thump...thump...thump. ...thump...thump..... God damn....he's back. Push another round of Eppy and call down a surgeon. He's losing blood fast....if we don't get this kid up to the operating room soon we're not going to be able to get him back again. How long had he been down? Ten minutes....this time. Paramedics said he was down in the field for a bit longer.....they even pronounced him on scene... CT showed some bleeding in the brain too....Hope there's enough of this kid left to save....damn shame..... Harry could hear voices all around him. Were they talking about him? The last thing Harry remembered was lying in the grass and people screaming at him to hang on, while he wanted so badly just to sleep and slip into the darkness. Now he could hear people talking about surgery and bleeding. 'I'm alive' he thought to himself, 'If they're trying to save me I'm alive!" He wanted to open his eyes to see if this was real and it wasn't death playing cruel tricks on him. But his eyes and body felt so heavy and he hurt so badly. He could hear people moving all around him, turning him over and prodding him with their hands and God knows what. Every time they touched him or moved him in the slightest, his body throbbed with pain and he wanted to scream out. He tried to make a groan or any sound that would catch their attention, but there was something in his mouth that prevented the sound from escaping. He could feel a hand searching his left arm for something. 'They must be looking for a vein or something.' he thought to himself. He wanted desperately to get someone’s attention, to tell them that he was still here and he was aware. He focused all his attention on his left hand, forcing his fingers to move or twitch...or do something. "Marie, come take a look at this," said a female voice from beside him. Harry tried moving his hand again. 'Maybe they had noticed' he thought to himself. "It's most likely spasms or tremors. This kid's been through hell.....Dr. Harris didn't sound too optimistic about his chances of function and recovery from injuries like this, " came an older female voice from farther away. "He wasn't doing that before. In fact, there was no response to any stimuli before. You don't think..." the first voice quietly stated as she trailed off at mid-sentence. "What's the name on the chart?" asked the older voice. "Harry...yes...no last name though." Harry felt a warm hand slip into his. "Harry, my name is Marie. If you can hear me squeeze my hand dear," came a soft voice in his ear. He had to let them know he was here...that he wasn't brain damaged. At least he felt like he was all there, he just couldn't get his body to respond. So he focused all his attention on squeezing his left hand. He felt his own hand push against another and heard an audible gasp from the women who was holding his hand. "Carol, go get Dr. Harris...now!" Harry heard hurried footsteps leaving the room and echoing down a hall. "Harry...I know it hurts and I know you're scared but if you can, open your eyes for me," soothed the older woman who was now stroking the top of his hand, trying to get him to respond. He wanted to badly to open his eyes and to see that he wasn't dreaming and to affirm that he was still alive. He struggled, focusing all his strength on just getting his eyelids to open. He felt them flutter and a flash of a bright light forced him to squint to stop the glare from hurting his eyes. "There we go. Can you try again?" the woman asked. Harry tried desperately again and his eyes fluttered open and he tried to focus on the room, but without his glasses everything was a blur of white and lights. The soft, round-faced outline of a middle aged woman swam into Harry's view and he wanted to cry out in happiness...he was alive, it wasn't a trick. But whatever was in his mouth prevented him once again from making any noise and instead there was an odd coughing and sputtering noise and a burning sensation in his chest. "It's ok Harry. We had to put a tube down your throat to help you breathe, you punctured your lung and were having trouble breathing by yourself, so don't try to talk. Just relax and let the ventilator do it for you ok?" the woman said soothingly as she started taking a wet cloth and cleaning the blood off his forehead and around his eyes. Hurried footsteps could be heard entering the room and a man with blonde hair came into Harry's blurry field of vision. "Harry, my name is Doctor Neil Harris and I'm an attending physician here at St. Thomas Hospital. Do you remember being in a car crash?" the doctor asked while leaning over Harry. He wanted to answer 'yes' but the ventilator didn't allow him to talk and when he tried to nod he found his neck sore and immobilized. The doctor though picked up on Harry's body language and gave a nod. "You were pretty badly hurt in the accident Harry and you arrived here about an hour ago by air transport. You gave us a right scare at first and we had to shock you to get you back...," stated the doctor as he shined a bright light in each of Harry's eyes and turned to the nurse and said, "Pupils are equal and reactive." "You need to hang with us a bit longer though mate...you're not out of the woods yet. You're still bleeding and we need to get you up to surgery to patch you up and make sure you're not hurt anymore than we can see, ok? We need to go as quick as we can... you hit your head pretty hard and we took a picture of your skull when you first got here.We found some evidence of an injury and bleeding...so we need to fix that up too. But it's good sign though that you're alert and awake right now kid...we were pretty scared for a second. Right now I just need you to stay awake and keep fighting. We're just waiting for the go ahead from the surgeons to head on up." 'Surgery?' Harry's mind started racing. 'No...Those Muggle nutters are going to cut me open and dig around inside me. They're going to open my head up and probably take part of my brain out or something.' Harry started frantically thinking of a way he could stop them. He'd get them to contact the Order or something...surely Healers at St. Mungo's could patch him up in a jiffy. There was no way he was going to let some Muggle doctor perform surgery on him. Harry started focusing on moving his body, thrashing around and trying to get them to stop. But all he succeeded in doing was moving his neck a bit and make his hand twitch. He was so tired and every time he moved a stab of pain enveloped his entire body. An alarm on one of the monitors softly beeping in the background started to sound. The women's voice, Marie, sounded as she pressed a button on the haywire monitor. "We need you to relax son...we're doing everything to help you...but you need to relax. Ok?" The nurse turned to the doctor and Harry could hear her whisper, "Oxygen levels and blood pressure are both dropping and I've got blood a lot of blood in this chest tube...we need to go now." A sudden, sharp stabbing pain in his chest caused Harry to close his eyes and clamp them tight in pain. The darkness that had taken him earlier was threatening again and he found it impossible to hang on any longer. He could hear faint yells and shouts around him as more people entered the room. But their voices soon started to fade until he could hear them no longer. Damn...there's blood in the chest tube...lots of it... Bleeding in the chest....blunt trauma....aorta.... Get surgery down...crack his chest...internal paddles....... What else? Hang on kid... ------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ Ron stood on the landing outside of his younger sister's bed room, staring at her closed door. He'd just found out that Harry was missing and had told his mother that he would break the bad news to Ginny. Now that he was here, he wished he hadn't have felt a sense of duty to do it. How would she react? She had been going out with Harry, but they were broken up now. But she still cared deeply for him and would always hold a special place in here heart for him. Ron wasn't sure how he'd react around a hysteric or crying Ginny. And there was always the chance she would react the same way he had, and start planning a hastily planned rescue mission. Sighing, Ron knocked softly on her door. There was no reply. He knocked again, a bit harder. Again, there was no answer. Fearing that Ginny was gone and maybe she and Harry had been part of an elaborate kidnapping plan by the Death Eaters, he pushed open her bedroom door. Ginny was sitting in the window seat, still in her pajamas. She looked as though she was staring out into the soft morning light, but her eyes were closed and Ron could see that her cheeks were stained with tears. "Gin?" he whispered softly. Ginny started and looked over at Ron who was silhouetted in the doorframe. "Sorry Ron...I guess I didn't hear you," she stammered quickly, hastily wiping the tears from her face. Ron opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, afraid to tell her. "Gin, there's something we need to talk about." Ginny shook her head and turned her attention back out the window. "No Ron. I already know," she said in a quiet and shaky voice. "You know? How?" Ron stuttered incredulously. "Last night I was on my way to the loo when I heard Bill and Dad's voice coming from downstairs. I snuck down to the kitchen and listened from there," Ginny stopped and continued to stare out the window. She didn't make to talk or explain any more. Ron's stomach sank and he made his way over to the window and plopped down on the floor beside her. That was not the way he would have wanted her to find out. She had obviously been up all night, alone, and worrying about Harry. "Gin I'm sorry..." he started, but she cut him off. "Has there been any news?" she asked sharply. Ron shook his head and looked down at the floor. Ginny gave a deep shudder and brought her hands to her head, cradling them. Ron got up from the floor and sat down next to her on the window seat and putting his arm around her, he drew her now sobbing form in closer to him. He was desperately searching for any words that would comfort her fears and perhaps comfort him too. "We're going to get through this," he choked as the damn frustration of fears broke and tears cascaded down his own face, "We're going to find him and everything will be ok. We've been in this situation before and things always work out. This is Harry we're talking about and we both know he always comes through these things, somehow. I know he's fighting like hell to get back to us....he's going to come home again...I know it." "Something just doesn't feel right Ron. This time... is different and I'm just so scared..." she whimpered. Ron nodded. She was right. All of the other times Harry had been in danger or missing, like at the Tri-Wizard Tournament, he'd been sick with worry. But he'd been able to ward off his worry and tell himself that Harry would be fine. This time there was a dark whole in his stomach that was filling him with dread and he couldn't make it go away. And no matter the number of reassurances or comforting thoughts he tried to fill the void with, things didn't feel right. Harry was wand less, he hadn't tried to contact them, and there had been no news since his disappearance. Things were definitely not right. The two of them sat in silence for a while, thinking to themselves and worrying that every minute that Harry was gone, the farther hope of a happy ending was slipping away. Not being able to stand the silence, Ron gave a deep sigh and stood up. "Ginny, let's go downstairs and have some tea. Mum's down there in a right state and we can wait together," he said holding out his hand to her. She smiled softly at him and took his hand. She followed him out the door and the two of them made their way down the rickety and winding stairs. When they were almost to the bottom landing, the sound of their mother's rushed and worried voice and their father's quiet tones could be heard from the kitchen. Ron stopped and pulled Ginny behind him; the two of them pressed their backs against the wall and strained to listen to the conversation. They both knew that even though they were considered mature and even adults in many aspects, the moment they stepped into the kitchen, their parents would clam up and hide things from them to protect them. So they both stood on the stairs above the landing listening and trying not to make a sound. -------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ------------- "Arthur, have they found him yet?" asked Molly apprehensively as her husband righted himself and dusted the ash off of his worn traveling cloak. Arthur looked sadly at his wife and shook his head. "You can't tell me there hasn't been any sign, no trace of anything yet. Certainly the Ministry would have been alerted to magic use in Muggle areas. They would have been alerted to any strange activity outside of wizarding communities and could have detected Death Eater activity." She ranted, trying to keep her voice down, but the distress in her voice made that hard. Arthur made his way to the table and sat down, bowing his head and closing his eyes before speaking. "Molly. You’re right. They would have been able to detect magic in that area. It would have been highly unusual and would have alerted them right away," He paused while rubbing the palm of his hand against his tired eyes, "That's why we don't think it was the Death Eaters or You-Know-Who at all." "What?” cried Molly exasperatedly Arthur raised his head and took a deep breath and letting it out before continuing. This was surely going to upset Molly. "We searched the highway and the surrounding area, trying to find any sign of the car or anyone. We traced the road at least ten times and couldn't see anything because it was still so dark out and damn foggy. Just as the sun was rising Alastor noticed a bent guardrail that was only visible because of the light. So we decided to fly down and check it out. When we landed we saw that there were ruts in the grass and signs that a car, several vehicles in fact had driven down that area," Arthur paused and took a drink of the tea that Molly had set on the table as she sat down next to him and took his hand. "We followed the tracks down a steep embankment and into a wooded area. The farther down the hill we got....the more rutted and beat up the ground was. We reached a little clearing and there was a few cop cars surrounding the area....checking out the scene. And...," he stopped and shuddered, "the Dursley's car was there." "Arthur?" whispered Molly in a frightened voice as she watched her husband's eyes well up with tears. "It was crushed up against a tree...turned upside down. It had obviously broke through the guard rail and flipped down the hill before it hit the tree," Arthur stopped when his wife let out a gasp and clutched his hand even harder, "Molly...I don't know...I don't know how anyone survived that. The way the car looked and there was so much....so much blood on the ground and in the car." Tears began to fall down Molly's cheeks as she asked, "Do you know if there were any survivors? Do we know anything more about the accident?" Arthur nodded slowly as he fought to keep the tears from falling down his own face. This was going to be hard for her to take. "We had Hawkins act as a Muggle Officer. She went around the scene...trying to get information from the police reports and asking the officers investigating the scene questions… Vernon and Petunia Dursley were declared dead on the scene,” Molly let out a quiet intake of breath, “The report also said that two teens were treated on the scene and then taken to a local hospital. One was a female, Dudley’s girlfriend, Sara Grantman…the other…the other one was male and…and was Dudley.” “What about…” Molly interrupted, but Arthur held up his hand and continued. “The only other information was that the other passenger had been ejected from the car. There was no name on the report….but...but the description was of a white male, between the ages of 16-20. The report said that they...that he…that the passenger was pronounced de...dead shortly after the arrival of the emergency workers." "NO!" cried several voices in unison. A loud thump could be heard from the landing just outside the kitchen. "GINNY!" cried Ron's voice. Molly and Arthur both rose from their seats and hurried over to the landing just up the stairs to find Ron leaning against the wall holding an unconscious Ginny in his arms. Arthur’s heart sank and his stomach lurched. 'Oh dear God,' thought Arthur,’they were listening on the stairs. They heard everything.' "Dad?" whimpered Ron as he looked up at his father with wide-fearful, tear-filled eyes. Arthur looked at his son hurt and confused son and couldn't find any words. "Ron...give her to me." whispered Molly as she crossed her stunned looking husband and reached out to take Ginny from Ron's arms, noticing he was trembling all over. Ron stood up and started breathing deeply through his nose and mouth, trying to compose himself and stop the rush of tears from cascading down his face. "Ron," said his father while reaching out his arm to the boy "come here." "NO!" Ron shouted as he jerked out of his fathers reach and held his arms closer to his body. "Ron we need to talk..." urged his father, taking a step closer to Ron. "No...No...No...NO! You're not going to tell me that a bloody--fucking--car crash killed Harry Potter. You're not going to tell me my best friend is gone! Harry's not dead... It's not true...it's not possible....HE'S NOT GONE!!!!" screamed Ron at the top of his lungs. Ron was hysterical. His whole body was shaking and he broke into a torrent of body-wracking sobs that were punctuated by cries of "NO!" and "HE'S NOT GONE." Arthur rushed forward and enveloped Ron in a forced embrace. Ron struggled in his grief, flailing his limbs all around and trying desperately to push himself away from his father who was now holding him fast to him. After a few seconds of struggling, Ron slumped onto his father and continued to sob continuously onto his father's shoulders. Tears were now running down Arthur's face and Molly was struggling to revive a still unconscious Ginny. "I'm going to take her upstairs to her room," croaked Molly through her tears. Arthur nodded in acknowledgement and continued to hold his son. Molly lifted the pale and small frame of her youngest daughter and set up the stairs to her bedroom. Ron silently sobbed into his father's shoulder for a few minutes, not looking up or letting go in the least. Arthur suddenly felt Ron shudder and looked down to see his son looking up at him. "I don't get how...how he died. Why he didn't use magic. He should have been able to save himself. He's a bloody wizard...wizard's don't die in car crashes," Ron pleaded to his father, sounding like a confused five-year old. "I don't know how it happened or why it happened son. When we heard he was missing, we never in a million years thought that this was why...We assumed it was You-Know-Who's workings and he'd been captured by the Death Eaters or something. Why he didn't use magic...I can't tell you Ron. He didn't have his wand...true...but I thought the same as you, that he could have done something...even accidental magic to prevent this. But he could have been scared or asleep and he might not have had time. Things like this happen...accidents happen and we can't explain them...we can't prepare for them...they just happen,” choked Arthur as he continued to hold the lost seventeen year old in his arms. There was a long silence and Ron sat in his father's lap, letting his father's words soak into his clouded, grief-filled mind. "I feel like I failed him," whispered Ron. Arthur took his son by the shoulders and forced him to look at him. "Ron...don't for a minute feel like you failed him...like it's your fault somehow," pleaded Arthur. "But we left him. We were planning on staying till Bill's wedding, but he insisted we come home and spend time with our families. I should have fought harder to stay. I told him that it was no problem...but he didn't want to subject us to those awful relatives of his any longer. When he sent us that letter telling us about the wedding...I should have asked him to tag along. But he sounded like he was looking forward to it. He always wanted to do something with the Dursley's, like a family or something and I didn't want to ruin that chance. I should have..." but Ron trailed off and the tears started to fall again. "You couldn't have foreseen this any more than the rest of us. It wouldn't have mattered if you had stayed...we'd probably have lost you too," said Arthur. "But if Hermione and I were..."Ron trailed off and let out a groan. "What?" "Hermione. She doesn't know. She doesn't even know he was missing. Mom and I were waiting for a member of the Order to come back with news so we could go tell Hermione," Ron got up from his father's embrace, "I have to go over there and tell her. I don't want her hearing this from anyone else." "I'm coming with you Ron," stated Arthur, taking Ron in his arms again. This time Ron embraced him willingly. "You're not doing this alone. We're going to get through this as a family. I promise you." "Thanks Dad," replied Ron in a raspy voice. Arthur grabbed his and Ron's cloaks from their spots next to the door and handed it over to his son who was studying the floor with his eyes. "Dad...they didn't...they haven't found his...him yet?" asked Ron, not looking up. "No. We don't know where they took him. The report said that Dudley and his girlfriend were taken to a hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries...but we don't know where. The Order is searching local hospitals, trying to find information. We’re trying to find Dudley...see if he can't tell us more. But it's a slow go so far. We're trying to be as inconspicuous as possible...we don't want to alert Death Eaters or spies of any problems until we can be sure of things. We're trying to minimize magic use and methods to avoid detection," explained Arthur. "They don't even...even know where his body is?” Ron moaned softly. Arthur put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "No. But I promise you...Ron...I want to believe as much as you that this isn't true and that we've made a huge mistake...but I promise we'll find him. No matter the circumstances or the outcome, we will bring him home where he belongs...we won't stop until we find him," assured Mr. Weasley. Ron gave an understanding nod of his head and swallowed hard as he and his father stepped outside and Apparated to the Granger's. -------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------- With a soft 'pop', the two tall, red-headed Weasley men stepped out of side street and onto the avenue that held the Granger's two-story, suburban home. Ron led the way, fighting his nerves and his grief as he strode down the sidewalk. Upon reaching the last house on the street, he strode up the front walk and up the small porch, stopping and staring at the closed door, afraid to knock or alert anyone to his presence. Mr. Weasley followed up closely behind his son, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Ron you don't have to do this...I can," but he was cut off when Ron shook his head fiercely. Ron reached his hand up and knocked lightly on the oak door. He heard the sound of someone moving inside and saw Mrs. Granger's reflecting through the stained glass window on one side of the door. "Hello," greeted Mrs. Granger, surveying her two guests, "Ron! How nice to see you again. And Arthur, how are you doing? My, it's been a while..." "May I speak to Hermione?" Ron interrupted in a strained voice. Mrs. Granger eyed him with concern. "She's not in at the moment. She went to lunch with her cousin and aunt who are in town this week from America. She'll be back though in a bit, probably in a half-hour or so. I can tell her you stopped by and I'll have her call on you later." "No. If it's alright with you, I'd like to wait for her to come home. I need to talk to her," Ron pressed. "Sure...Come on in," said Mrs. Granger, starting to sense something was wrong. She opened the door wider and allowed the two men to step into the foyer. "We can go in the sitting room if that's alright with you. Would you like some tea?" Ron shook his head and continued into the sitting room. "Yes, tea would be nice," Mr. Weasley answered, giving Mrs. Granger half-hearted smile. "Arthur, what's wrong? What's happened," she whispered in a worried voice. "Is Robert home?" asked Mr. Weasley, inquiring about Mr. Granger. "Yes...he's up in his office just doing some paperwork," answered Mrs. Granger. "I think it would be best if you two joined us in the sitting room," requested Mr. Weasley. "Ok...I guess I'll call him down," the worry on Mrs. Granger was evident and she was scared about how Arthur and Ron were acting. Something was not right. Mrs. Granger climbed the stairs and Mr. Weasley could hear her calling to her husband. She came back down the stairs, "He'll be joining us in a moment. What's this about?" Mr. Weasley just shook his head and gestured to the sitting room. The two adults walked into the small room to find Ron sitting in a corner chair with his head in his hands. Mr. Weasley stepped behind the chair and stood behind Ron, rubbing his shoulders to try and comfort him a bit. Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs and the tall, strong figure of Robert Granger appeared in the sitting room doorway. "Arthur, Ron...How good to see you both again. What brings you here today?" greeted Mr. Granger enthusiastically. "Um...perhaps you should both sit down," Mr. Weasley offered. Mr. and Mrs. Granger both looked at each other and sat down next to each other on a small sofa, waiting intently for Mr. Weasley or Ron to speak. Something was very wrong. Arthur closed his eyes and steeled himself for the second time today to deliver the horrible news. "Last night, we recieved an urgent call via Floo, you've heard of this? Yes? We learned that a car carrying Harry Potter and his relatives was missing. They had attending a wedding out in the countryside and were returning home early this morning. We sent out a search party and started covering every possible area. This morning we found evidence that the car that they had been travelling in had crashed. When we got there, the police, your police, were investigating the scene," said Mr. Weasley as he tried to retell the circumstances. "A crash? Is Harry alright?" asked Mr. Granger, obviously concerned. Mr. Weasley shook his head. "How badly is he hurt? Is he going to....to make it?" Mrs. Granger wondered aloud. 'Certainly these two would not have come if this was nothing serious. They'd have contact Hermione through an owl or something else,' she thought gravely to herself. "Jane," started Mr. Weasley turning to Mrs. Granger, "Harry..." "Harry's dead Mrs. Granger," stated Ron in a hollow voice. Both Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked at Ron, their faced horrified. Mrs. Granger looked as though she was going to be ill. "Dead?" repeated Mr. Granger unbelievingly. Mrs. Granger leapt out of her seat next to her husband and pulled Ron into a bone-crushing hug. "Ron I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry," she spoke soothingly as she began to cry silently into his hair. Ron once again broke down into body-wracking sobs and clung to Mrs. Granger. Mr. Granger hung his head and brought his hand to his face, closing his eyes and trying to take everything in. "I'm so sorry Arthur. I just don't believe it. After all the boy has been through...now this?" Mr. Granger said through his hands. “God.How are we supposed to tell Hermione?" Ron looked up from Mrs. Granger's shoulder. "I'll tell her. We lost our best friend...our brother. I just want to be with her...to be there." Mr. Granger strode over to his wife and Ron and placed a soothing hand on the young man's shoulder. "We'll do this together. You both don't need to go through this alone...we're here." Ron nodded and took his sleeve to try and dry the tears that were wetting his face. He'd cried more tears than he had ever before in his life. But there was no point in holding back anymore. Harry was gone and there was a big whole in his heart, in his soul. Mrs. Granger gave him a pat on the shoulder and handed him some tissues, which Ron took with a small smile and started to clean his face off. "I'm just going to go start some tea, ok?" And Jane Granger stood up and slowly made her way to the kitchen. Mr. Granger retreated to the two vacant chairs and were having a conversation, undoubtedly about Harry and the accident. Ron just sat there, breathing shakily and staring off into space. He glanced at the clock and noticed that they had been at the Granger's for about twenty-five minutes. That meant that Hermione was going to be home soon and he'd have to steel himself to tell her. She would be heartbroken and like him, she would have a hard time believing or fathoming that Harry was dead. At that thought, there was a noise at the door and happy female voices, deep in gossipy conversation could be heard coming from the front hall. "Mom! We're back. I took Aunt Laurie and Kara to that new Italian bistro down on Sullivan Street and it was wonderful. When Ron and Harry come to visit next week, I've got to take them. Ron will love it. They've got these huge portions and I'm sure Harry's never been allowed...," Hermione called out, "Mom?" Mrs. Granger's distraught voice came from the kitchen. "Hermione could you please go into the sitting room. Laurie and Kara could you watch the tea for me please?" "Sure..." came Hermione's unsure voice. She walked into the sitting room with a few shopping bags and broke out into a huge grin when she saw Ron sitting in one of the chairs. "Ron! What are you doing here? This is such a surprise. I didn't know....Ron what's wrong?" her grin faded as he looked up at her with sad, tear-filled eyes. His hair was a mess and he was definitely not alright. She looked around and saw that Mr. Weasley was also there, sitting on the sofa with her father. "Mr. Weasley...Ron...What?" Hermione stuttered and stammered. Something was wrong. Why were both Mr. Weasley and Ron here? Ron wasn't due to come visit her till next week. Hermione's mother came up from behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Hermione looked around franticly; waiting for someone to speak and tell her what was going on. A deep, sick feeling of worry began to fill her stomach and she knew that they had horrible news. Ron didn't cry, and he had certainly been doing that. "Hermione..."began Ron with a trembling voice, his mouth began to open and close like a fish out of water and he couldn't find the words or the heart to tell her. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't stand to see those searching eyes. "Ron?" asked Hermione in a small, worry-filled voice. "What's wrong? Who is it?" she pleaded, her voice cracking and tears starting to fall from her eyes. "Ha…Harry. He...he's...Hermione he's gone," Ron cried, his heart breaking at every word. Hermione looked at him with a look of incomprehension. "Gone? Where?" she asked absentmindedly, staring at the floor and seemingly stunned. "No...Hermione...he's...he's...he's dead." Hermione began to shake her head violently, tears streaming down her face and she kept repeating "no" over and over again, much like Ron had earlier. "Hermione come here," Ron cried through tears as he got up and wrapped her up in his arms. She gave into him and started to hysterically sob into his chest. Ron let his own tears fall down his face and sat rubbing her back, knowing nothing he said would help or comfort anyone. "How?" asked Hermione in a small voice, not looking up from Ron's chest. "Coming back from that wedding. The Auror's lost the car in the fog and ended up following the wrong car, somehow," snapped Ron. A new found sense of anger flowed through Ron at the thought of the Auror's who couldn't keep track of the car, who hadn't been there to save his best friend. "They figured out it wasn't the car when they were almost back to Surrey. The Order was put on alert that he was missing...I'm sorry I couldn't tell you...they searched all morning for the car, for any sign of a struggle. This morning they found the Dursley's car. It was a total wreck and looked like it had crashed into a guard rail and flipped down a hill or something," Hermione let out a small gasp and Ron clutched her tighter. "The Order members there tried to investigate...talk to the police and things like that. And that's how they found out....that he...that he was..." but Ron couldn't finish his sentence. He was sick of saying that Harry was dead, sick of hearing it. "If the Muggle police knew..." started Hermione as her ever-anylizing brain began to kick in, "It wasn't Death Eaters...was it a..." "A car crash...Yeah. No Death Eaters, no bloody You-Know-Who...just an accident," whispered Ron into her ear. The two teens sat clutching each other, each lost and scared. The adults in the room put reassuring hands on the two as they broke down and grieved for their best friend. "Ron...can we go up to my room?" asked Hermione through thick tears. Ron looked up at Mr. and Mrs. Granger for approval. Even though they were grieving, he wasn't sure he was allowed in Hermione's room. But they nodded and gave them a knowing smile. "Sure," he whispered, bending down to kiss her forehead. "Ron...I'm going to go home and see to your mom and Gin. If you need anything at all...don't hesitate..."Arthur Weasley said hesitantly. "Thanks Dad," Ron whispered. Arthur Weasley walked out into the hall and a soft 'pop' could be heard as he Apparated home to his wife and daughter. Ron and Hermione, arm and arm, walked slowly up the stairs and down the hall into Hermione's room and closed the door softly behind them. |
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